What You’ll Need

What to Do

Paint a cardboard egg carton white to make the chicken. (Remember: Make one egg-carton chicken per player.)

Glue on felt wings, feet, beak, and comb. Add wiggle eyes.

Number the egg slots from 1 to 12. Then place a cotton ball in each slot.

To Play

Players take turns rolling the two dice and adding up the dots. The players remove the egg from the egg slots whose numbers add up to the sum of the dots. (For example, if the dice show a 5 and a 3, the sum is 8. The player could remove an egg from just the 8 slot or from any combination that equals 8, such as 7 and 1, 6 and 2, 5 and 3, or 4, 3, and 1.) If the egg that a player needs has already been removed, the player skips that turn. After the players have each rolled five times, they count up their eggs. The player with the most eggs wins.

Extend the Fun

Younger kids: Play the game again except with one die and use subtraction. If you roll a 5, for example, you could do 12 - 7 or 10 - 5. Keep the eggs you use and end the game after each player rolls four times.

Older kids: Make the game about more than just addition. Incorporate other operations to help you reach your answer. So if you roll the dice and get 10, you could add 4 + 6 or multiply 5 x 2 or divide 10 ÷ 1.

This game gets kids thinking about different ways to approach an addition problem. Sure 2 + 2 = 4, but so does 3 + 1. And either answer will get the job done in this egg-citing game.